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Friday, September 10, 1999 You are invited to be part of a roundtable discussion Friday, September 10, at 2:30 p.m., which will feature a presentation by Dr. Rolf Iten, an economist with the Swiss research institute INFRAS. This discussion provides an opportunity for key staff involved with tax policy to learn first-hand about European tax reform initiatives that seek to serve a combination of fiscal, economic and environmental goals. These initiatives include new taxes to address environmental problems, such as climate change, as well as offsetting reductions in other taxes. The presentation will be followed by an informal discussion among the roundtable participants. Recent developments in Germany, the United Kingdom and France demonstrate an increased willingness on the part of major European governments to look to energy and environmental taxes as major alternative revenue sources. Such integration of fiscal, economic and environmental policies through "ecological tax reform" is not a totally new concept in Europe. For example, Denmark has been imposing new carbon and other "green" taxes while reducing other taxes since the early 1990's. What makes the current situation so interesting is that several larger European countries now want to achieve tax system reform through use of taxes with an underlying environmental rationale. Dr. Iten's roundtable presentation will include discussion of the economic impacts of this approach to tax reform. We hope you will join us on Friday, September 10, 1999. Please RSVP to Beth Bleil at (202) 662-1886 or bbleil@eesi.org. |